2018 Spring Kansas Child

Building a Classroom
Community Through Circle Ti
Ms. Kayla walks
over to the rug and invites
the children to come and sit
down with her. The children
soon make their way over and
she starts to sing the “The
Morning Song,” a welcoming
song to start the beginning of
their circle time. The group
exchanges smiles and giggles
with each other as they all clap
their hands and sing. Then
Ms. Kayla calls on each child
individually.
Tyra stands up, and the class
begins to sing to her, “Tyra’s
here today, Tyra’s here today,
we‘re so glad that Tyra’s here,
‘cause Tyra’s here to play!”
Feeling acknowledged by her
peers, Tyra smiles and sits back
down.
The narration above
illustrates one way circle
time can be used to build
a community while also
acknowledging each individual
child. Circle time is one of
the few moments out of the
day that the classroom is
together as a whole, much like
a community. In order for a
classroom and a circle time
to function properly, teachers
need to be intentional when
using this time to establish
connections with one another.
The tone for Ms. Kayla’s
circle time was set by starting
with a welcome song. As she
continues the rest of circle
time, her plans for the group
are centered on meeting the
needs of each child so their
experience together feels
positive and successful.
Ms. Kayla decides
the activities for her
circle time based on
developmentally
appropriate
expectations she
has determined for each child
in her class. She specifically
considers the children’s
attention spans as well as their
personal interests. Making
circle time meaningful to each
child will increase the chance
that children will choose
to participate. By offering
choices to children (where to
sit, what songs to sing, etc.)
children have opportunities
to be active participants in
their own learning. Though
EMILY RIOS &
LAUREN BOWSER
Lead Infant/Toddler Teachers,
Project Eagle/Educare
Emily Rios is a lead infant/toddler teacher at Project Eagle/
Educare Kansas City. She graduated from University of Central
Missouri with a B.S. in Child and Family Development. Emily
has been working with children ages birth-6 for 10 years and is
passionate about teaching young children by building on their
interests.
Lauren Bowser is a lead infant/toddler teacher at Project
Eagle/Educare Kansas City. She graduated from Kansas State
University with a B.S. in Early Childhood Education. Lauren is
passionate about taking advantage of teachable moments in the
classroom and creating a strong classroom community.
10 Kansas Child A Publication of Child Care Aware ® of Kansas